By Sharon Sheridan
For religion historian and author Karen Armstrong, faith isn’t just believing; it’s doing. Religious doctrines “make no sense unless they’re acted upon,” she told the 520-plus people who attended her June 23 talk at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Morristown.
And what she’s particularly calling people of faith to act upon is something that she says the doctrines of all the major faiths call us to: compassion for others. “Compassion is seen as the test of faith.”
“In the English-speaking world, people think it means feeling sorry for people. It’s not pity,” she said. “It is encapsulated in the Golden Rule – never treat others as you would not like to be treated yourself – which requires you to dethrone yourself from the center of the world on a daily basis.”
Author of multiple books, Armstrong demonstrated the breadth of her scholarship, quoting from the scriptures of various religions and tracing compassion from the teachings of Confucius and the Rabbi Hillel to those of Mohammed and Jesus.
She sees compassion as imperative in today’s world.
“It seems now that, unless we apply the Golden Rule globally so that we treat all peoples, all nations as we would like to be treated ourselves, we’re not going to have a viable world to hand on to the next generation,” she said. “This is the religious task of our time.”
To help accomplish that task, Armstrong launched a Charter for Compassion with the aid of a 2008 Technology, Entertainment, Design prize, awarded, she explained, to someone who has made a difference but could do more with TED assistance. The award was for $100,000 – and a wish for making a better world. She knew immediately, she said, that she wanted to help create, craft and propagate a charter to restore the Golden Rule to the center of religious and moral life.
Thousands of people participated via a multilingual website, and 20 people representing the six major world faiths – Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism, Confucianism and Christianity – wrote the charter. “It was a demonstration that, despite our manifold differences … on this we all agreed, and we could work together toward a better world.”
Armstrong views the charter as a call to action and is enthusiastic about the development of “compassionate cities.” She’d like to see these cities in different parts of the world paired and electronic friendships and exchanges occur between young people to break down misconceptions.
“Pakistan has become one of the leaders of the charter,” she noted. And an office is expected to open in Amman, Jordan. “Wherever I go in the world, I see people longing for a more compassionate world and also determined to effect it.”
Besides developing the charter, Armstrong wrote a book, “Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life,” to help people overcome the addiction of egotism. In her talk, she highlighted three of the steps, stressing the importance of recognizing how little we know; of respectful dialogue; and of loving our enemies.
Armstrong, who makes her home in London, traveled to Morristown as the inaugural speaker in the John Shelby Spong Lectureship, established in honor of the former Diocese of Newark’s former bishop whose home parish is St. Peter’s.
“I’ve been privileged in my life to know a number of people, both public figures and private people, I think I can honestly say that the two most incredible and influential people that I know personally are Desmond Tutu and Karen Armstrong,” Spong said in introducing her.
“For seven years,” he recounted, “Karen was a rather traditional nun in the Roman Catholic Church. Today, she is a world figure. She has been many times on the New York Times best-seller list with various books. She is a frequent commentator on the BBC. She has become a person well-known around the world. After the 9/11 attack, Karen, at the invitation of the Senate of the United States, conducted a retreat for our Congress and our Senators, helping them to understand the nature of Islam.”
He added, “She is also a beautiful person, and to [my wife] Christine and me she is a very special friend.”
“It’s such an honor to me to give the first of these lectures,” Armstrong replied. “What you’ve done, and I know it’s not been easy, is make people think, to make people question. You’ve helped to bridge that gap between the academy and the people in the pews who are so often left behind, and you’ve done it in such a way that people have not been ashamed any more of their doubts, their questions and their worries about things.”
Armstrong entertained questions and signed books after her talk. Led by current Diocese of Newark Bishop Mark Beckwith, who once served as priest associate at St. Peter’s, the audience also serenaded Spong in honor of his 80th birthday, which Armstrong recently helped him celebrate in London.
